unChristian

I am reading a new book: unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters. This one came from the Barna Foundation, a conservative Christian group that specializes in statistical surveys related to church life. (They're the ones to ask if you want to know how many offspring of Southern Baptists end up in the Roman Catholic Church.)

I'm sort of in process with this one, and I don't agree with all the presuppositions, but I'll try to do sort of a chapter-by-chapter review and gloss of the book.

The why

My own history is tied up with the focus of the authors. I came into the church from the outside and I'm still an outsider to a great extent. My daily work is with people who are 18 to 22 years old on secular college campuses, so I'm really not too much in sympathy with the "Christian bubble." Though I'm older than the book's research subjects, I really identify with them: really like Jesus, but not that thrilled with the cultural expression of his church. Nearly every public statement by official Christian types makes my guts clench, but I don't want to bail out.

The book's title, unChristian, refers to both the faith and mindset of the "New Generation." If I can sum it up, it seems like an alienated son—good memories of the Christian faith, lots of cultural lingering, and a nostalgia, but nevertheless going off in a new direction. And if there's one thing that runs through all these incredibly numerous surveys and interviews, it's that Christianity doesn't really understand the outsiders at all. No idea of how outsiders perceive Christianity. No idea of their priorities. No idea of their mindset. The danger, of course, is that the church could become an increasingly isolated faith community, similar to the Haredi Jews who wear special clothing, keep their children away from outsiders, and live in encapsulated communities.